A. Field
The invention relates to an architecture and a method for the centralised control of events occurring in correspondence with remote peripheral electronic devices.
More specifically, the invention concerns an architecture and a method for the centralised control, of the kind suitable to be employed in all those situations in which a remote control is required for peripheral devices that hardly accessible for example due to their distance or their large number, by means of a central device.
B. Related Art
The invention can be advantageously employed, for instance in the fields of security, of anti-theft systems, and of the remote control of environmental parameters, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, etc., by means of remote sensors.
It is known that architectures where one or more peripheral electronic devices are able to continuously transmit information to a central device are currently employed. for the centralised control of events occurring in correspondence with remote peripheral electronic devices.
The information transmission from the peripheral to the central device takes place by means of a transmitting unit provided in the peripheral device, through cables, optical fibres, infrared rays, laser, etc., or, preferably, radio waves.
In particular applications, where the peripheral devices are located in areas where no power supply is available, devices autonomously supplied by batteries or accumulators are employed. In such conditions, i.e. when the peripheral devices are battery supplied, and anyway in every situation where it is desirable to minimise current consumption in correspondence with peripheral devices, for example in the case when these devices are very large in number, architectures where the radio unit with which the peripheral devices are equipped is intermittently supplied were developed in the past.
As well known, indeed, in the peripheral devices the receiving and transmitting units absorb most of the electric power supplied by the batteries and, consequently, remarkable savings can be achieved by alternating turn-on and turn-off phases of these units, with an outstanding increase in batteries life.
Another reason for reducing to a minimum the turn-on time slots of the radio unit, in particular of the transmitting unit, lies in the fact that the rules currently in force for the utilisation of the frequencies employed in many applications, for example in the field of remote control, security, etc., allow bus occupancy only for short time slots.
WO 01/26069 discloses, for instance, a peripheral device where a sensor, provided with a transmitting and receiving unit, is periodically supplied for receiving a synchronisation signal from the base station and for transmitting in its turn a flow of information. If the base station receives the flow of information from the peripheral device, it sends a confirmation to the peripheral devices, which can consequently deactivate the supply to the sensor.
Nevertheless, an architecture based on the principle disclosed in the above mentioned WO 01/26069 does not allow to modify the operation parameters of the peripheral device. In other words, the peripheral device, once programmed, cannot undergo further remote modifications of its operation parameters, such as the turn-on, turn-off time slots of the sensor, without directly intervening on the device.
This arises from the fact that the autonomous transmission of flows of information from the central devices to the peripheral ones is not envisaged, but only the transmission of confirmation signals of the reception is provided.
In other words, the receiving unit provided in the peripheral devices, though allowing a bi-directional exchange of data, is intended only to receive a confirmation signal.
The need for a direct intervention on the peripheral device in order to perform its programming involves remarkable drawbacks and limitations, in particular in open-field applications, where the peripheral devices are placed at a large distance from one another and they are large in number.
Furthermore, the prior art architectures do not envisage the possibility of providing devices, either peripheral or central, exclusively supplied by battery and consequently provided with receiving and transmitting units that are periodically turned off.